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Footprints In The Wind

by Graham McDonald

239 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-1038; ISBN 1-4120-9284-1; US$19.95, C$22.94, EUR15.55, £10.31

A prospector searching for gold deep in Western Australia's desert wilderness enters a cave and encounters a searcher of a very different kind.

About the Book

In a remote corner of the West Australian goldfields, two old prospectors watch from the veranda of a pub as a familiar vehicle speeds from the desert horizon and skids to a halt before them. A man climbs out and rushes wild-eyed into the front bar, a small bag held guardedly in one hand. He roughly demands a carton of beer then during a fumbling attempt to pay for it drops the bag and out tumble several rich specimens of gold. He frantically gathers them up, storms out of the room and then speeds away in his vehicle again. Less than an hour later he is found dead in it, the victim of a mystifying car crash.

Stunned by the man's behaviour and what they've seen fall out of the bag, when the two old timers later learn of their fellow prospector's death their thoughts inevitably turn to finding the gold's source. But for one of those men, part Aborigine Reg Arnold, something he experiences whilst seated alone on the pub veranda not long after the man's departure will re-awaken another quest. For him the search for the gold will become part of a journey of the spirit that will ultimately connect with one begun after a murderous incident over ninety years before. A troubled teenaged grandson from the city soon joins him, other searchers too, as word about the gold gets out and the hunt for it turns into a race. Gradually, their footprints merge with those of the past, each possessed in a different way but all guided by the influence that sent a terrified prospector racing out of the desert and carrying its glistening message into the pub.

About the Author

Graham McDonald was born in 1948 in a coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Much travelled and with many varying occupations behind him, Footprints In The Wind is the product of his time spent prospecting the West Australian goldfields. He now lives with his wife, Coral in the small town of Denmark on the south coast of his home state.

Email the author at:
gracor@iinet.net.au

Excerpts

Reviews

'Set in desert WA where enigmatic footprints are the essence of our timeless land, this is so much more than a gold-prospecting story. A rich find causes unexplained terror and tragedy, the consequences of which enthral and compel the reader through to the thrilling conclusion. In parallel with current events, we are taken back to the harsh reality of the early days in the goldfields and exposed to the heartbreaking, gut-wrenching brutality meted out to Aborigines by some at that time. The brutality is not gratuitous however, but as the basis for the supernatural thread which passes through generations of both victims and perpetrators to present day characters. The often humorous knockabout dialogue from very real characters, combined with wonderfully evocative descriptions of desert country completely absorb the reader into time and place. A great first novel from Graham McDonald.'
- Liz Vincent, GOOD READING MAGAZINE (Australia & New Zealand) May 2008

'It is great to read work that is not afraid to explore the 'mystery' of inspirited land. Thanks for the compelling and satisfying read.'
- Robyn Mathison, published poet, editor, and secretary of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Tasmania branch.

Graham McDonald makes use of finely-tuned descriptive powers to place the characters of the practically incompatible prospecting and indigenous worlds into a totally believable landscape, with which many Australians easily relate. The description of the 'horde of paintbrushes dipped in gold' burnishing the breakaways of the outback at the end of the day, is one of numerous descriptive passages which are beautifully and sensitively drawn. The intangible and spiritual thread which binds the story together, and in so doing, the disparate cultures, has at the same time an earthy and an ethereal quality which wholly engages the reader. Smiler, the 'talking' dog, with his astute observations and extra-sensory perceptions injects an unusual and often hilarious element into the narrative. A refreshing and thoroughly good read.
- Mary Noack-Skinner, Albany, Western Australia.

Deep in outback culture yet so 'light' in the true Aussie flavour, and all brought together in a very well thought-out way. I am so glad that 'dogs' can't talk! yet sometimes… I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.
- Jenny Constantine, Denmark, Western Australia.